She smiled up at me. “Because helping people makes life worth living.”
And there it was. The pure essence of who this truly unique woman was. Who was I to stop her bringing some light, and a warm meal, into these people’s lives? “All right. But I’m not leaving you all night.”
It was possible we’d killed all those Demons assigned to Kadie last night anyway.
“Unless you see a Demon of course, then I’m sure you’ll be off.”
“Of course.” Then I’d hunt them down until they were all dead.
We headed into the city, and a part of me enjoyed walking beside Kadie. Casually along the street. Seemingly human, just like everyone else.
“Tell me more about why you were kicked out of Heaven.”
“Pardon?” I didn’t think I’d told her any of the reasons, let alone the one.
“You told me you were in some sort of love triangle. What happened?”
Oh, I had told her some of it. That would be right. The one woman I don’t want knowing about my past, I blurt out the real reason to. “Well, I was in love with a woman, a Goddess actually. But…” I paused. I hated telling this story.
“Someone else was in love with her too?” Kadie asked, seemingly un-phased by this new information.
There certainly had been. Many of us loved her, in fact. But there had only been one man entitled to do so. “Yes. Her husband.”
This time she gasped. “You fell in love with a married woman? Shame on you.” Kadie giggled and made a strange motion with her fingers.
I scowled at her. “Don’t laugh. I was kicked out of Heaven for it.” A punishment some said was worse than death. Only the enticement of Heaven once more kept us alive.
We kept walking through the streets, weaving around the many people still bustling to and from work. Going to dinners, theatre, drinks.
Kadie poked me in the ribs. “I don’t believe you. There’s more to it than that.”
“Well… Teramea is a Goddess, one of the many daughters of the Supreme Being.”
“Whoa, you mean God has other children as well?”
She seemed shocked and my mind pulled up the many Christian stories told of the Supreme Being.
“Yes well…. It’s hard to explain. There are actually many Gods and Goddesses in Heaven, but there is only one Supreme Being that created us all, yes. And she was his daughter.”
“Was?”
Wrong way to phrase it.
“Well, still is. I just haven’t seen her in five hundred years.” And for many centuries I had yearned for one more touch of her hand on mine.
“Really? That’s tough. She couldn’t come down and visit or anything?”
This is where it gets tricky.
“Why is it tricky?”
I rolled my eyes. Why am I trying to keep things from someone who can read my mind?
“Yes, why are you keeping secrets?”
I heaved out a sigh. “The truth is, I fought for the hand of the Goddess. And won.”
“So, what was the problem?”
I sighed, my chest heavy as I remembered that terrible day. “The problem is, we are forbidden to fight in Heaven amongst ourselves. Also…I killed him. Her husband. One of the most powerful of us. And I was thrown out of Heaven for my sin.”
She looked up at me with wide, disbelieving eyes. “And you want to go back?”
“Of courses. It is my home. The final destination for all those that are good in this world.”
“Hmmm….” She nodded and hummed as though she wanted to disagree but didn’t dare continue the conversation.
I looked around and decided to do some reconnaissance.
“We’re here. I’ll be here waiting for you when you finish.”
She kissed me softly on the lips and then headed inside the old building we stood in front of. I glanced up. By the looks of it, the place used to be an old church. Converted and gutted into a community building for all. She should be safe here.
Chapter Five
The sun was setting. Dinner time for most humans.
A bedraggled woman dragged herself along the foot path and stumbled inside. One of the many lost souls on this planet. Someone Kadie wanted to help.
Heat tingled on my neck and I turned to see a telling flicker of flame on the roof tops. They were here. Again. Despite my presence. And despite the loss of numbers from last night. Anger rippled in my gut, and also a sense of foreboding.
They must really want her. Kadie was much more special than we’d originally thought. All the signs were pointing to it.
I pulled on my invisibility, flexed my wings, and with a rush of adrenaline, flew up the building in front of me. I landed and growled at the Demon in front of me. They would not get through.
“You shouldn’t be here.”
He spat back fire at me, the flames catching my hoodie. I smacked at the flames with my hand, burning myself in the process.
“You’ll pay for that.” I drew my sword and raced forward, my heart pounding as I sliced at the flickering embodiment of Hell. These Demons did not deserve to be on this plain, especially when their man function was to hunt those headed for the Pearly gates. They were wrong.
The Demon darted around the roof top and eluded me. They had no weapons excepting their ghoulish faces and heated bodies that seared anything they touched. It danced with me as I swung and parried.
Blasted thing.
I flexed forward and back, then another appeared. And then another.
Excitement zinged along my veins and I felt the beginnings of a smile lift my lips.
Now this was good. A proper challenge. It had been a while since they’d tested me like this. Fought me with enough Demons to make the fight possibly deadly for me. Pride wove through my heart as I thought of the little Witch below us.
Kadie really must be a prize.
A loud scream below pierced my mind like a knife and I faltered.
No…. Kadie…
One of them swiped out at me, catching one of my wings and the feathers instantly burst into flames.
No. I dove to the concrete and rolled, putting out the flames and knowing that part of my wing would never repair. I growled with menace as I realized they had deliberately separated us. I should have stayed down on the ground level with her.
I turned my back on the triple Demon flames and took a running leap. I threw myself off the building and flew to my target. My lover. The Demons cries of rage could be heard the whole way down the building.
My wings extended, flapping a moment, just before I hit the ground. I righted myself, then ran straight into the hall.
People were running and screaming, everywhere. Kadie was nowhere to be seen.
“Where is she? Where’s Kadie?” I asked as I grabbed one of the men that ran by.
“The kitchen,” he said, his voice quivering as his eyes shone like saucers.
They were here. Inside a church! Showing themselves to the world.
Fuck. Had I missed something? When had the rules changed?
“Gabriel!”
I ran straight through the door and saw Kadie standing on the bench, holding out her arms to three Demons. Her white light shined for all to see. Like an angel’s halo, only a thousand times more bright. The bodies turned black as her magic hit them, and they failed to get close enough to her to hurt her.
I drew my sword and sliced one of their heads off, satisfaction rippling through me as he crumpled to the ground. The other two turned to me as I killed one, then the other, taking their heads from their flaming bodies.
“Oh, my fucking. God!” Kadie exclaimed and I cringed at the blasphemy.
She jumped down from the wooden bench top, her whole body shaking. “What do they want?” She seemed more angry than afraid, which made me calmer.
“They want you. That’s clear. But I’ve never seen them attack someone so openly before.”
“They look like they want to kill me!” She panted, her energy obviously spent from defending her
self. “You said they would try to torture me so I’d go to Hell. What’s with this shit then?”
True, and the most puzzling question of all. Demons didn’t kill humans, they wanted their souls. And the only way their souls went to Hell was if they suicided.
If the Demon killed a human, they went straight to Heaven. So why were these Demons attacking rather than torturing? And they truly did look like they were trying to grab her, which would make death certain for Kadie.
“I agree. Which means we need to get you home. Now.”
For once she didn’t argue with me.
“Let’s go out the back door,” she suggested as she pulled me into a small blackened court yard. I wrapped her in my arms and flew us home.
What did the Demons want with her? And why would they want to lose her soul to kill her human body? Or was this the new way to torture talented Witches?
I didn’t know.
And that scared me, most of all.
When we got back to her house, we let ourselves inside quickly and I rushed to the shower to heal my wings. Water proved the solvent for all….even Demon burns.
Kadie stripped her clothes from her delicious body and jumped in the shower once I’d doused my wings as I needed to. She grumbled to herself as she washed her hair and I stared at her, taking in her beauty, and unable to see any signs of her magical origins. I’d believed in the past that Witches had special markings upon their bodies so that they were easy to spot, but I could see nothing on Kadie.
“You’re not going to continue to tell me that you didn’t know you had powers now, are you?”
Kadie’s head dropped and our gazes met. Finally, I could see the conflict in them, and I crossed my arms over my chest and stared at her.
She looked away.
“You did know, Kadie. How could you not tell me?”
She turned off the water and grabbed a towel, quickly drying herself before wrapping a large white robe around her slender frame. “It’s not as simple as that, Gabriel.” She sounded sad and it tugged at my heart.
“Then explain it to me.”
She nodded finally and took my hand, leading me to her bedroom and sitting down on the mattress with me. “I’m a witch, I think. I’ve known most of my life that I had these powers.”
“What do you mean, you think?”
“My mother died giving birth to me, and I never knew my father. I was raised by the system…which means a whole lot of foster families. I was luckier than most and my foster parents weren’t too bad. But I got out at sixteen, managed to get an apprenticeship, and I’ve been on my own ever since.”
“Alright, then that would explain your lack of knowledge, I suppose. But why didn’t you try and find other Witches to teach you?”
She grimaced. “I did. When I was a teenager, I found that I could make that white light happen, especially when I was really scared. My foster mother was terrified of me, and gave me back when I was thirteen. After than I learned to hide it. Then I moved to New York and thought I’d be able to find others like me, but there isn’t any! I joined a coven, and none of them had any real powers. They just liked to chant and carry on. I wanted to learn how to use my power, and I’ve been practicing alone for a long time. Mostly just to protect myself against people, men especially. I’ve had a few of them jump me in the evenings.”
I grinned. “I bet they regretted that decision.”
She shrugged. “Yeah, a little. The light didn’t work so well against the men. It would push them back, but not really hurt them. So I didn’t understand why I had it. Until tonight, it’s never really done any damage.”
My brain began to whirl faster. This was special. “Your light could be a specific Demon fighting power. I’ve never seen anything like it myself, Kadie.”
“Really?”
“Really. And if those things ever come at you again, blast them back to Hell. You got it?’
“Yes, Gabriel.”
I reached over and opened her robe, exposing the creamy globes of her breasts and the pink tips that cried out for my lips. I pulled her closer and sent up prayers of forgiveness. I would love this woman tonight, and every moment I could until the day they made me leave again.
I spent a week following Kadie after that night and I didn’t see another sign of the Demons. We even set her up one night to see if we could draw them out. She walked through the streets of New York, alone, her hair unbound and blowing in the breeze. I even kept a far distance, trusting her to defend herself if necessary.
And nothing. Except some weird homeless person that seemed more interested in her money than anything else.
When Tabitha called with another target, I wasn’t surprised. It meant that the Demons were no longer a threat to Kadie and I could move on.
“I shouldn’t be disappointed to go, but I am,” I confided in her. I’d found over these past few days that there was no point in keeping anything from my little Witch. She could read my mind whenever she wanted to, and with her kind soul, there was no reason to hide anything away.
Kadie laughed with that full bodied sound that I’d begun to love. “You mean, you’re glad I’m no longer a target?”
“Yes, very much so. But I don’t wish to leave you. I’ve enjoyed our time together.”
“Perhaps you could stay one more night?” she asked, her eyebrows lifting in a suggestive way.
That look tugged at my heart strings, but I ruthlessly squashed such fanciful feelings. We’d had more nights together than we should have already, and I could feel its effects on me, weakening the hardness I had built up around my heart.
“No, Kadie. We’ve already put ourselves in enough danger. I should go.”
Her lush bottom lip trembled. “Does that mean I’ll never see you again?”
I shook my head. Not a chance.
“I’ll be back. I’m always around New York.”
“Good. I couldn’t stand not being able to see you again, Gabriel.”
I steeled myself against the warm flowing energy coming off Kadie. “You know I can’t abandon my targets to come to you Kadie. I’m on Earth for one purpose, to save those destined for Heaven.” I tried to put some strength into my words and saw her lips turn up into a perfect smile.
“I know. Like me. I will never forget what you’ve done for me this week.”
She went up on her tip toes and kissed me. Those perfect, sweet lips pressing against mine in a soft caress. Lust stirred in my loins and I broke away from the woman who had, in a very short time, become home.
“I have to go.”
“I know.” She groaned and let go of my hoodie where she’d gripped me and I hadn’t noticed. The instant cold that swept my body from lack of her touch was remarkable and had me gasping for breath.
Kadie stared up at me with her clear blue eyes. “If I never see you again, Gabriel, I want you to know…I’m grateful for everything you’ve done for me.”
I opened my mouth to refute her claim. Of course, we would see each other again! And soon. But no one knew what the future held, so I stopped myself from saying anything more about it.
“Good bye for now, beautiful little Witch.”
I touched her cheek with my fingertips one last time, and stepped outside her door, slipping into invisibility. The city held no allure for me today. I didn’t want to walk among the people.
Sadness crept along my soul like the falling of snow. I recognized it in a way that you do an old friend you haven’t seen in many years. And it had been centuries since I’d felt an emotion like it. My heart ached, tight and uncomfortable.
There was nothing for it except to push past the feeling and get back to work. I extended my wings and let them pull me up into the air.
Chapter Six
An address appeared in my head and I knew that was where I needed to go.
I’m on my way, Tabitha,
Good, this one is being stalked every night. He’s terrified, so be wary.
I nodded, though she could
n’t see me, and flew to the hospital I’d been directed to. I did have one advantage over these Demons. Being able to access my targets during the day meant that I kept a lot more of them alive that way.
I flew up to the rooftop and there he was, standing on the ledge of a twenty-foot building.
No. Don’t do it.
He couldn’t see me, and I kept it that way.
I flew up into the sky and moved around to the space in front of him so I could catch him if he jumped. Not a preferred choice to interfere in the natural order like that, but with Demons in his head, the man could be forgiven for wanting to end his life.
He still couldn’t see me, which was something I’d wanted to test. I’d thought that maybe my targets would be able to see me in my invisibility once Kadie had, but once again, this situation simply proved her the exception.
The man, Doctor Terence Winters, stared at the cement below as though it may hold all the answers to his life’s problems. Which unfortunately, if he was being terrorized by Demons, would only be the start of his torment.
He leaned forward and I could feel his fear. The pulsations of his heart.
No. Not today, Doctor.
I flew forward and picked him up by the arms. He shrieked and tried to fight me but, I held tight and carried him to the center of the roof top before putting him down and releasing my hold on my invisibility. He fell backwards onto his ass and scampered across the concrete like a frightened crab.
“What the hell are you?”
I chuckled. An unusual response for me, but hey, my world was a little upside down at the moment. “The answer is much closer to Heaven than Hell, Doctor Winters. I am Gabriel. Your guardian angel, and I’m here to save your life today.”
He blinked several times and then stared at me.
“I’m real. I’m not going to disappear.”
“I don’t understand,” he whispered, his heart still racing dangerously fast.
I squatted down and tucked my wings in behind me so that I could look at him from his height. “I was called to save you from the Demons chasing you. I know you’ve had some horrible nightmares, and feel like the only way out, is to plunge to your death off this roof.”
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